Nebraskaland

Nebraskaland June 2021

NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.

Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1378132

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June 2021 • Nebraskaland 59 3 feet in height, common fi eld horsetail, common scouring-rush and smooth scouring-rush are widespread, growing on moist shorelines, fl oodplain forests and wet meadows. Field horsetail is our only somewhat weedy fern. Spreading via rhizomes, it forms colonies in roadsides and crop fi elds where it draws the ire of farmers. Known from only a few Sandhills marshes, water horsetail begins growth submerged in up to a foot of water before emerging above the surface. Many people are familiar with horsetails and scouring rushes because of their jointed stems, and enjoy pulling them apart, joint by joint. Creative kids have been known to string the segments together to create a fern necklace. From a more practical standpoint, their ridged stems are rich in silica, and because they often grow near water, settlers used them to scour pots and pans. The stems also make a great emergency fi ngernail fi le. Equisetum's spore-producing cones, composed of highly-modifi ed leaves, are born on stem tips. Unique among ferns, their spores have four long, strap-like structures called elaters that coil and uncoil in response to changes in humidity. When dry, the elaters uncoil, creating wind resistance which helps the spore stay aloft. When the humidity rises, such as during fog or after rains, the elaters coil around the spore and it drops to the ground, hopefully onto moist soil suitable for germination. A New Fern? Recently, an ecologist sent me a photo of a fern he encountered last summer in oak woods at Rock Glen Wildlife Management Area in Jeff erson County. Although the photo is inconclusive, the plant appears to be of a species of shield fern never before found in our state. A collection this coming summer might confi rm this exciting fi nd. Nebraska's ferns continue to fascinate. N Smooth scouring-rush growing on a stream bank in Richardson County.

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